Sports

Highest-Paid Quarterback In College Football Makes Haters Look Stupid With Incredible Debut For New Team

#College Football
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Darian Mensah Duke Blue Devils

© James Guillory/Imagn


Quick, off the top of your head, name the highest-paid quarterback in college football.

It’s not Texas Longhorns superstar Arch Manning. It’s not project first-round draft picks Cade Klubnik, Garrett Nussmeier, or Drew Allar. And it’s not Ohio State or Michigan freshmen Juliyan Sayin or Bryce Young.

Instead, the honor belongs to Duke Blue Devils star Darian Mensah.

Mensah starred as a redshirt freshman for the Tulane Green Wave a year ago, before entering the transfer portal. He then had a bidding war for his services before shockingly landing at Duke on a massive NIL deal.

In the process, the Blue Devils pushed out former starter Maalik Murphy, who himself impressed last season after transferring in from Texas.

Murphy headed to Oregon State, where he’s set to make a fraction of what Duke is paying Mensah, leading many (myself included) to wonder if the Blue Devils had any idea what they were doing.

Darian Mensah Balled Out In His Duke Debut!

As it turns out, Duke and head coach Manny Diaz knew exactly what they were doing. Mensah was 27-of-34 for 389 yards and three touchdowns in his Blue Devils debut. Duke won the game 45-17 and while, yes, it was only against Elon, the redshirt sophomore looked every bit like a superstar quarterback.

“Not a bad day in the office to start the season off,” Mensah joked in his postgame press conference. “I feel like we could’ve executed at a higher level in the first half. But not bad for the boys offensively.”

Mensah completed his final 14 passes of the contest, and Duke outscored Elon 35-7 in the second half.

“(I’m) Just trying to execute at the highest level I can,” Mensah said. “We just got to keep playing. I felt like we executed in the first half, just didn’t put the ball in the end zone.”

There will be tougher tests to come for Mensah and company, starting next week when the Blue Devils host No. 12 Illinois. But the highly paid signal caller entered Thursday’s game with plenty of doubters, and he likely has far fewer after a standout showing.